11 Creative Ways to Incorporate Instant Pudding into Your Baking

Instant pudding mix makes dessert almost too easy. All you need to do is stir a packet into cold milk and let it sit for a few minutes and you’ll have yummy, nearly effortless pudding. Unlike regular pudding mix, which requires adding a packet to heated milk, instant pudding mix provides a fast, stove-free solution to your pudding cravings — and the ingredient that creates that convenience can elevate other, more elaborate desserts, too.

Instant pudding mix contains a modified cornstarch, the ingredient that helps it come together so quickly. It turns out modified cornstarch can also thicken baking mixtures in a fraction of the time of regular cornstarch, and all without being heated. In addition to this, the sugar in instant pudding mix can improve moisture (and, of course, sweetness) in cakes and other baked treats. Plus, instant pudding comes in a variety of flavors, which means you can infuse that speedy goodness directly into your favorite bakes and dessert recipes that need an extra punch. So where exactly does it work best? Here are a few of the most creative ways to use instant pudding mix in your baking, from icing to icebox cake.

Countless bakers consider instant pudding mix a crucial baking ingredient specifically because of what it can do for cakes. It makes them more moist  and helps achieve a lighter but sturdier structure.  And true to its own instant quality, it can upgrade either cake made from scratch or from a boxed cake mix.

In addition to improving their texture, there’s another way instant pudding mix can enhance cakes. There are numerous flavors of instant pudding mix available. For instance, brands like Jell-O and Royal offer classics like vanilla and chocolate alongside options like pistachio, banana cream, and butterscotch, to name just a few. Since all of these options contain the same ingredients that make cakes moist and light, you can choose whichever one you want to influence the taste of your cake. It’s a great way to get creative. For example, change up your usual vanilla cake by adding a packet of strawberry flavored instant pudding mix to your homemade or box mix cake dough. If you want to get fancy, you could mix chopped strawberries into your cake dough as well, or add fresh strawberries on top of your finished cake (or both!).

Homemade whipped cream is delightfully easy to whip up. Just mix heavy cream, sugar, and vanilla extract. As easy as it is to make, though, there is a downside. After a while, whipped cream can start to run and flatten — or, as bakers aptly put it, “weep”– losing its shape and texture. Fortunately, there’s a simple fix for this: Add some instant vanilla pudding mix when you mix up your whipped cream.

The modified cornstarch in instant pudding mix works as a stabilizing agent that will keep your whipped cream’s shape intact for longer. Now, you’ll be able to top or fill your favorite pastries without worrying about their looks or texture falling flat. Like many aspects of baking, this requires precise amounts of instant pudding mix, so be sure to read your stabilized whipped cream recipe of choice carefully. 

Dating back to an era when iceboxes were more common than refrigerators, icebox cakes are a classic no-bake dessert. A typical icebox cake is made up of layers of cookies and a creamy element, which is often whipped cream. Construction is simple — layer the cookies and cream and then let your creation sit in the refrigerator for a few hours or even overnight. The end result will be cookies that have softened and absorbed some of the whipped mixture, with plenty of cream left to enjoy alongside them.

You can make your icebox cake picnic-worthy by adding instant pudding – simply mix it with the traditional whipped cream or replace it altogether. It’s quick and easy, doesn’t involve any cool-down time, and goes well with countless types of cookies. The wide range of instant pudding flavors is another plus, since icebox cake is one of those desserts that practically begs you to get creative. You can use just about any kind of cookies or cream you like, and some recipes even add other elements, like fruit slices.

Invented in France in the 19th century, eclairs are thick, finger-shaped pastries that are among the most common offerings in French bakeries. If you don’t have 24 hours in Paris to taste an authentic one yourself, you can make them at home. Traditional eclairs consist of a choux pastry exterior that’s filled with piped-in pastry cream and then topped with a fondant icing.

Eclairs aren’t the most difficult pastry to make, but they can be a little tricky, especially since each of the three main elements requires multiple ingredients and preparations. One way you can cut down on your eclair prep time and generally make things easier is to swap out homemade pastry cream with instant pudding, since the two are fairly similar. Pastry cream is a bit thicker, though, so some cooks will advise adding an element to thicken your instant pudding a bit (heavy cream, for instance, is a popular choice).  

An additional benefit to using instant pudding as an eclair filling is that you have a choice of flavors, just like what you’ll find on offer in a real French boulangerie. You can go traditional with chocolate or opt for something like pistachio or banana.

Homemade cookies are always a treat, but if you especially love thick, soft, chewy cookies, you need instant pudding mix. Although we usually tend to think of the two as separate treats, combining them is a thing in the baking world. In fact, there’s even a name for it: pudding cookies. Just as adding instant pudding mix to cake helps it get moister and thicker, adding it to cookies will have the same effect. And once again, it’s due to the chemical reaction caused by instant pudding mix’s modified cornstarch when it meets the other ingredients. 

Most pudding cookie recipes you’ll come across are for thick chocolate chip cookies, because few things in this world are more perfect than that. But you can add instant pudding mix to many other kinds of cookies as well, including popular varieties like sugar cookies, oatmeal cookies, and snickerdoodles.

One way to improve a delectable, creamy no-bake cheesecake is by adding instant pudding mix. As with other baked goods, instant pudding mix helps to thicken and stabilize the other ingredients. In this case, that means your cheesecake will come out firmer and smoother, which makes for easier setting and eventual slicing. And as with other desserts, instant pudding mix can enhance your cheesecake’s flavor — vanilla pudding is an easy selection, but you can get a bit creative with other options, too.

Using instant pudding mix in no-bake cheesecakes is an old trick that’s known to many bakers and cheesecake enthusiasts. But you can also add instant pudding mix to baked cheesecakes, too. As with no-bake cheesecakes, the mix will both add flavor to your creamy creation and thicken it. For this reason, while you can use an entire packet of instant pudding mix for no-bake cheesecake (unless the recipe you’re following suggests otherwise), experts from the Cheesecake Lovers Facebook group advise limiting it to a few teaspoons when you’re adding it to baked cheesecake.

One of our favorite kitchen tricks is to use instant pudding mix in frosting. There are two main ways to do this. The first is to combine instant pudding mix, regular milk, and a whipped topping like Cool Whip. Pro tip: If you don’t have Cool Whip or anything similar on hand, you can substitute stabilized whipped cream … which, as we’ve seen, you can also make from scratch using instant pudding mix! Either way, this instant pudding icing is incredibly easy to make, and the pudding mix will make it stable enough to use for piping and keep its shape. The pudding mix also lets you play with flavor, so you can either stick with a classic vanilla icing or go with something more out of the box, like strawberry or banana.

Another option is to make frosting with instant pudding mix, whole milk, butter, and powdered sugar. This will give you a result similar to buttercream that’s stable enough for piping and able to hold its shape.

Trifle is an iconic British dessert whose origins go back centuries. A traditional trifle is made up of a layer of brandy- or sherry-soaked pieces of cake, then a layer of custard, as well as jam or fruit. The final layer is whipped cream. There are many variations on this classic trifle recipe, as well as some smart swap-outs. One of these is to use pudding instead of custard. Instant pudding mix is an easy option for this, cutting down on ingredients as well as prep time.

Trifles look pretty and elegant, but they’re fun to make because there are few, if any, hard and fast rules. You’ll come across countless delicious and often creative recipes that veer far from the original. So if you’re feeling bold, instead of instant vanilla pudding, try some different flavors or unexpected fruits to complement it. For instance, use banana instant pudding, replace the cake pieces with brownies, and add banana slices as well. Chocolate pudding and sliced citrus fruits sounds pretty good, too. Whether you keep things traditional or go with something different, trifle is a delicious, easy-to-make dessert where instant pudding fits right in.

If you’re seeking an easy-to-make dessert that combines the creamy, smooth taste of pudding contrasted with a bit of crunch, a pudding pie is an excellent choice. All you need is instant pudding mix and pie crust (either store-bought or homemade, perhaps even with Girl Scout cookies). Whatever your choice of crust, finish things off with an optional dollop of whipped cream on top.

That said, there is one thing to keep in mind. Since pudding is fairly liquid, it’s a good idea to thicken it a bit so that it will set in your crust. You can achieve this by reducing the amount of milk you use to make the pudding, replacing the it with heavy cream, or adding half-and-half or regular — not modified – cornstarch . 

Speaking of dairy ingredients, you can also use instant pudding mix to make cream pies of any sort, including classics like chocolate or banana cream pies. The basic difference between a cream pie and a pudding pie is that the former are creamier, as their name suggests. To reach that creamy texture and taste, incorporate an additional creamy ingredient like Cool Whip into the instant pudding mix.

Originating in France, likely in the 18th century, chocolate mousse is a paradox of a dessert, with a rich taste but a light, somewhat airy texture. Traditionally, chocolate mousse is made by combining melted chocolate and cream, then carefully folding in egg whites. The mousse is then refrigerated for a few hours and after that, it’s ready to savor. 

While it’s not incredibly difficult to make traditional chocolate mousse, there is an easier, faster way to do it with instant pudding mix. In this case, use a whisk or electric mixer to combine instant pudding mix and heavy whipping cream. Naturally, there’s a subtle difference between these two versions of mousse, as the instant pudding mix version will be a bit less dense, but both are undeniably yummy. Chocolate mousse is the classic dessert mousse, though many other varieties exist, and you can use instant pudding the same way to create those. For instance, swap out your instant chocolate pudding mix for vanilla or strawberry, or even a pistachio instant pudding mousse.

Strawberry shortcake’s roots go all the way back to 16th century England, and over time, this recipe, like many with a long history, has seen countless variations and ingredient swaps. For instance, we like to switch out the shortcake for biscuits. As you might have surmised, this is where instant pudding mix comes into play.

In fact, there are two different ways you can incorporate instant pudding into strawberry shortcake. The first is to add a layer of vanilla pudding in addition to classic strawberry shortcake’s whipped cream filling, making for an even creamier taste and texture experience. Or, if you’re into the classic strawberry shortcake but want your confection to look flawless, you can use instant pudding mix to stabilize the whipped cream for a final result that’s both tasty and Instagram-ready. Of course, we’re not against using both methods in the same cake, either!